Improvement in cider-presses



v ZSheets-Sheetl. 'L. O. ROCKWOOD.

CIDER-PRESS. No.171,633. Pat-tented Dec. 28, 1875.

N4 PEIEHS, PHOTD-LITHQGRAFNER, WASHXNGTON. D C.

Z Sheets-Sheet Z.

L. o. ROCKWOOD. CIDER-PRESS.

Patented Dec. 28,1875.

WASHIN UNITED STATES Plrrrnrr OFFICE.

LORING OTIS ROGKWOOD, OF OTTAWA, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT II:.\I C,IIDER-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 17:] ,633, datedDecember 28, 1875; application filed May 22, 1875. i

' around which they are arranged, this pinion being actuated by acentral shaft and sweep. The pressure-screws, being held from turning,are lowered or raised by the revolution of the aforesaid geared nuts.These nuts work against flanged washers, which hold said nuts in theirrespective centers. The object of this arrangement is, first, to enablethe sweep to be operated in a continuous circuit; and, sec- 0nd, tocause this operation of the sweep to force the pressure'screws down orup simultaneously and alike.

Second, in inserting in the midst of the pomace, as the same is built upinto a cheese, the perforated tubes or ducts, extending through thecheese to its outside, for the purpose of enabling the cheese to be madeto any desired height without increasing the distance the juice willhave to percolate through the pomace to find an outlet.

The following is a description of the construction, arrangement, andoperation of my improved press. 7

Four heavy upright posts, A A A A, Fig. 1, are placed one at each cornerof the frame. The cross-beams B B and B B are framed into each pair ofsaid upright posts, near the top and bottom, as shown in Fig. 1. B B isa floor at the top of the frame, formed by the four upright posts A AAA', through the center of which the shaft F passes. This floor fillsthe inside of said frame. B B is a strong solid floor, firmly fastenedto the under sides of the two cross-beams B B. A third floor, G G, isbuilt in the frame, about one foot, more or less, below B B E 1s thefollower, and D D D D are pressure-screws, extending from the Ifollower, to which their lower ends are fastened, up through the threefloors aforesaid. In my press as constructed there are four of thesescrews, one at each corner of the follower. By having this number thefollower may be kept absolutely horizontal while being raised or forceddown, and thus the pornace will be pressed with perfect uniformity; butthe machine may be constructedwith any less number. Between the floorsU0 and B B are the circular geared nuts H H, one of which works uponeach of the pressurescrews D l) D D. These nuts are substantiallyspur-gear wheels, working horizontally upon the upright pressure-screws,the holes in the centers of the said nuts, through which thepressurescrews pass, being cut with threads corresponding to the threadsof said screws. These geared nuts are arranged upon the floor O O, andbetween them and the floor B B are placed the flanged washers I I. Thesewashers are firmly fastened to the lower surface of the floor B BPerpendicular to the lower surface of each of said washers, andextending therefrom, is the circular flange J J, shown in the sectionalview of the washer-I in Fig. 2. This flange fits into a correspondinggroove in the geared nut below the washer, and thus holds said nutfirmly in its place, and also permits it to revolve. The aforesaidgroove is shown in Fig. 2 at K K. The spur-pinion L, Fig. 3, is keyedupon the upright shaft F F, Fig. 1, near its lower end, and is so placedat the center of the upper surface of the floor- O G that it meshes intoand turns all the geared nuts H H H H, Fig. 3. The shaft F F, Fig. 1,extends upward through the aforesaid floors to such a height that asweep, M, may be attached to its upper end, and clear in its revolutionsthe pressure-screws D D D D when they are at their highest point. N Nare rods, extending each through two of the said pressure-screws toprevent them from turning as the geared nuts H .H H H are turned. (SeeFig. 1.)

In operation, thegeared nuts bear against the flanged Washers. Therevolution of the sweep carries the shaft F Fand the pinion L, whichlatter carries the geared nuts H H H H, Fig.'3. These, in turning, liftor force down the pressure-screws, which carry up and down the followerE.

The perforated tube P, Fig. 4, is a hollow tube, of cylindrical or someother shape, pierced with small holes t. After the pomace has been laidup in a cheese to a sufficient clear to the bottom of the cheese.

means the liquor can be thoroughly extracted from a much larger cheesethan can be clean pressed without the use of the tubes.

Iclaim as my invention--- t i i The vertical shaft F, to which the sweepis attached, in combination with thespur-pinion L, the spur-geared nutsH, the flanged washers I, and the pressure-screws D, substantially asdescribed, and for the purpose specified.

LORING OTIS ROOKWOOD.

Witnesses:

EDWIN N. LEwIs, D. MCDOUG-ALL.

